View Full Version : My spring dead matted down grass river scene!
LarrySeiler
03-14-2002, 05:55 PM
Well...this is a repost from an earlier post in the Landscape forum...but, here in plein air posted for talking about that unique quality of color that early spring provides. I liked blueocre's recent piece highlighting something similar in that dead grass.
The matted down grasses from weight of winter's snow has a sort of silvery sheen to it, with a hint of new growth working its way thru. Spiritually, philosophically...it speaks of new life, and such brings the possibility of new hopes.
The meandering of higher waters lazily around creek banks, with the hint of overhead sun. Somewhat melancholy...a time to reflect on things passed, and promises to come.
This is 18" x 11"...oil on board, of a creek in western Wisconsin... -Larry
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/14-Mar-2002/elkcreek.JPG
jsr88
03-14-2002, 05:59 PM
Larry,
Thanks for posting this one. I like the path of the water. Nicely done. The water is staying in the bank and the viewer (me :) ) can actually see the movement. Beautifully done.
julie
Wayne Gaudon
03-14-2002, 08:00 PM
This is nice .. the water is exceptional .. I'd love to see the piece you would produce if you went back there and did it with your new heightened awareness.
... have you looked at any of your old pieces and thought .. man, I have to go back there and paint that again because I now can see so much more .. and don't tell me you haven't climed a notch because even thought I have been here only a short time, I know that no one can change their work so drastically without first undergoing a dramatic change inside.
Later,
Rose Queen
03-14-2002, 08:05 PM
I can't say I think much of your title for this great piece, Larry! :rolleyes:
LarrySeiler
03-14-2002, 08:43 PM
Originally posted by Wayne Gaudon
... have you looked at any of your old pieces and thought .. man, I have to go back there and paint that again because I now can see so much more
I guess I haven't really thought in those terms...painting is always so humbling. I am aware I have more handle on something that is happening but...that only allows me to face challenges I was not equipped to face before. Challenges that I might not have even known existed until now.
My experience with plein air painting is that you seek to capture a spirit present in a scene...in a special unique moment, that motivated you to endeavor to discover it. As a result, a work that has a degree of success causes me to look at it and remember, to "re-experience" in reflection the moment.
More than any other painting technique approach, alla prima plein air is like growing up with music as a kid. At least for me. When I hear a song...say from the Turtles, "Happy Together"...I can close my eyes, see my junior high school friends and going over their house where their crazy mother made us sandwiches...and we'd stand in front of the stereo and scream along obnoxiously. I hear the song, "Brandy" and I'm immediately laying on my rack aboard ship in the Navy during the end of the Vietnam war writing letters home, etc;
When I see plein airs of mine, they are like conduits of experiences that bring things back vividly.
But...as my eyes and passions develop, I see possibilities around me that rings of potential such that going back hardly seems possible.
I see some folks here nearly struggling sometimes to find a subject to paint. Where I live...I'm always only 2 minutes away from a strong painting subject. So..all that to say, "no...I'm satisfied that a statement represents a past experience, and I'm more excited now to see just what my eyes might find fresh and new."
.. and don't tell me you haven't climed a notch because even though I have been here only a short time, I know that no one can change their work so drastically without first undergoing a dramatic change inside.
These are good things to discuss. Its really a process of giving yourself permission, which really hinges on feeling good about yourself and not needing to cling to past accomplishments to define yourself.
I really don't feel comfortable thinking about how far I've come or climbed. Oh, perhaps to appreciate hard work and patience...but, I don't put a lot of confidence in my ole nature to adjust well to such thinking. Pride is never far away, is it? Which then comes and enjoys is panderings, its praise...and blinds one to the truth of what yet needs work. It then enjoys feelings of ranking and superiority to others.
I find that a good dose of spending time encouraging others is a good remedy for that. It keeps me from getting too much into me.
I find that when I'm into me...a vacuum surrounds me and demands constant evidence that "I" am worthy of so much personal attention. Then reasons for producing art can change ever so slightly to where one begins feeling the need to "prove" something. Not necessarily to one's self, but to the world.
At any rate...once I got over the "need" for my art to prove that my life was worth the living as some existing testimony after I'm gone...I began to see the value of art as a process and as an activity. Not good when a work is produced, but the privilege of engagement. A form of celebration. A worship. A sense of highest awareness of being alive, in tune and in touch with beauty, aesthetics, life. That despite the ugliness of the world's turmoils...something sacred, beautiful, precious can be experienced. A joyous occasion. Like the prince's father in Monty Python's "Holy Grail" at the bloody castle wedding scene, "Let's not talk about HOO killed Hoooo....this is spose to be a HOPPY (happy) occasion!"
When you have gotten over yourself, and are no longer impressed....giving yourself permission to experiment no longer carries with it a weight of imagined repercussions. Perhaps that leads to the dramatic change Wayne....
What I found out is...in the short few years of humbling myself before nature and taking on once again the status of being a student of art...I feel I have learned so much more than in all the many years of maintaining reputation. Larry
LarrySeiler
03-14-2002, 08:44 PM
Originally posted by Rose Queen
I can't say I think much of your title for this great piece, Larry! :rolleyes:
hahaha....well, guess I found a charm to what it was....!!! hee heee heee.... :p
Larry
CarlyHardy
03-14-2002, 11:15 PM
Larry, as everyone has commented...that water is awesome! I like the lacy effect in the distant treetops too...gives the eye dancing room!
Like you, I find so much to paint that I'm overwhelmed with subjects! Just outside my back door is the most beautiful camellia blooming its deep red blossoms...I'm amazed by its luster and the weight of each bloom that weighs down its little branches. It's only a couple of feet tall! Every year I think its growing...but I think all its energy is spent in providing me with my winter bouquet!
I'd like to have that kind of singleness of purpose when I paint...to just make something incredible...impossible...but beautiful. Perhaps my camellia will help me along the way.
carly
bluochre
03-14-2002, 11:56 PM
"When you have gotten over yourself, and are no longer impressed....giving yourself permission to experiment no longer carries with it a weight of imagined repercussions. Perhaps that leads to the dramatic change Wayne.....
What I found out is...in the short few years of humbling myself before nature and taking on once again the status of being a student of art...I feel I have learned so much more than in all the many years of maintaining reputation." larry wrote !
oh YES ! ABSOLUTELY SO !!!!
your words are intense, understood, i believe, by individuals who are willing to throw attitude and self-aggrandizement to the winds ! it is sometimes easier said than done. fortunately, you have done.
the study above is real fine. parts of it seem like watercolor....or am i just reminded of color choices of a particular popular watercolor author ! ? !
my best. . . .
:cat:
[QUOTE]...the privilege of engagement. A form of celebration. A worship. A sense of highest awareness of being alive, in tune and in touch with beauty, aesthetics, life. That despite the ugliness of the world's turmoils...something sacred, beautiful, precious can be experienced. A joyous occasion. [QUOTE]
I say, AMEN. The best times are when the ego steps away and allows the spirit to participate or even take over. Sometimes I feel like I'm just watching while the brush or knife works its magic. How good is that? Does it even matter whether the painting thus produced is "good" or not? (These are usually the best ones, btw!)
Ruth
PS I remember seeing this one before and being amazed at the painting of the water. :D
[I find that a good dose of spending time encouraging others is a good remedy for that. It keeps me from getting too much into [b]me/b].
I say AMEN to this too. I belong to an art group that meets every Monday, and I spend a good bit of time helping some of the others... it feels so good when I see someone "get it!"
Ruth
Dang! How do y'all do that quote thingy???:mad:
LarrySeiler
03-15-2002, 02:16 AM
Originally posted by Ruth
Dang! How do y'all do that quote thingy???:mad:
Just click onto "Quote" once beneath someone's post you'd like to respond to. See how the computer will automatically lay out the html line.
It will begin with a "[" then the word Quote, followed by a "]" then usually the bold symbol beginning with the "[" , the letter "B" ending with the "]" after that the text. When the text ends....you repeat the commands...but put the forward slash mark- "/" so.... a "[" then "/B" ending with the "]"...then the "[" with "/quote" ending with the "]"
You have to have your symbols and letters all right, because it is html...
Nice to hear about your Monday night group Ruth...sounds cool. I have some positive response of a number of professional wildlife artists and a couple here that would like to form a plein air'ists group. Will take a bit of time to do the work necessary...and distance between us would not doubt relegate it to get together perhaps a few times per year. Still...should get that going! Take care...
Larry
Wayne Gaudon
03-15-2002, 08:11 AM
... just for the record, I don't believe for a moment that heightened awareness is a reflection on one's self importance ..
.. Once asked a VB teacher to expound on of his application .. he replied that he wrote for the advanced VB Programmers and didn't have time for beginners or intermediates so I shouldn't bother asking him to explain .. if I couldn't grasp the concept I wasn't worth his time .. this guy obviously had forgotten that he too was once a novice .. we hurt ourselves if we ever entertain such a notion that we are above and beyond anyone or thing.
.. you growth inside is reflected outside and when we forget about the ego we expand our capability to live life as it should be lived. When we do that, we grow as human beings .. that does not mean we are special or more important, it simply means that we are comfortable with our place in life .. we are beginning to understand that we are nothing .. everything is a gift .. and when we appreciate the abundance of gifts that are bestowed upon us we can accept the hurdles that are place beside us as well. Our eyes are opened to new levels of seeing.
Gandi was accused of always changing his mind from one day to the next and Gandi said .. "I can change my mind every day, because today I understand more than I did yesterday." It is our perception of our understanding that lays change within us.
Monet painted water lillies till the cows came home and each time out they appeared to him as different because nothing remains the same .. nothing. You can never go back home!
That is why I wondered if you had ever though about painting an old scene through new eyes .. it wouldn't and couldn't be the same painting unless you painted strickly academic and replicated your old painting from memory. I can see the attachment you feel because when I pass a scene I painted I feel a bond .. It's like seening an old and dear friend .. I get a warm glow. I would like to do one but I can't .. I just have no desire to paint it even though a piece of me would like to see it done with my new experiences and growth .. I was wonder how you felt on it and now I know ..
This will be a :D for you
.. RE: I'm always only 2 minutes away from a strong painting subject
I once read of Tom Tomson.
A group would go into the wilderness to set up for some sketching and painting. He would stop and they would branch out in search of their subject.
Hours later they would gather and each would show off their exquisit scene they had found by travelling an hour or two into the bush.
Then they would look and Thomson had 6 or 7 paintings and sketches at his feet that were every bit as astounding as theirs. He had not left the spot he originally sat down in .. [b]he had merely looked full circle at the outstanding and never ending beauty of nature .. [b]
.. enjoy
LarrySeiler
03-15-2002, 08:31 AM
great story about Thomson....
and isn't this awareness that a possible painting exists at near every view one of those things that causes us to feel so alive!
Larry
Originally posted by lseiler
Just click onto "Quote" once beneath someone's post you'd like to respond to. See how the computer will automatically lay out the html line.
It will begin with a "[" then the word Quote, followed by a "]" then usually the bold symbol beginning with the "[" , the letter "B" ending with the "]" after that the text. When the text ends....you repeat the commands...but put the forward slash mark- "/" so.... a "[" then "/B" ending with the "]"...then the "[" with "/quote" ending with the "]"
You have to have your symbols and letters all right, because it is html...
Larry
Thank you for taking the trouble to explain, Larry! Let's see if I got it....
:clap: Yay! It worked! Thanks again.
Ruth
walden
03-16-2002, 10:39 PM
Great Thomson story, Wayne. I'm just back from my trip tonight-- completed 11 small plein air pieces, and geez am I tired! But, one night when I was especially tired and a little discouraged, my sweetie asked me where I wanted to paint the following day, WHAT I wanted to paint-- and I told him that all of my problems with painting were "in here", not "out there", meaning that it wasn't the scene, the light, or anything else out there giving me problems. My problems were MY problems, and nothing to do with the landscape itself. :)
But, we had a wonderful time, and I've spread out my work and been looking at it. None of them are perfect, but they were all wonderful fun, and several of them I will re-do as larger studio pieces. I'll start photographing and posting the better ones tomorrow. As a big bonus, we moved a lot and reconnoitered a large swath of Texas, found a lot of great painting spots, and took probably a couple hundred digital photos, so I have source material to last me for months.
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